This week we’re in the third Sunday of Advent in the Christian tradition, reading the story of the people’s return from exile as told in Ezra 1:1-4 and 3:1-13. We reflect on the varying roles of the exiles in this text, some of whom return to Judea to do the hard work of rebuilding the temple while others remain in Babylon to support the rebuilding financially. We think about the resonances of this rebuilding with the story of Solomon’s original construction of the first temple, recalling the former temple in all its glory but also remembering a time when Israel worshiped God in the wilderness without a permanent building at all. And we ponder the generational experience in this text, some in the older generations weeping at the sight of the new temple foundation being laid while others in the younger generation shout in jubilant praise. And through it all we hear the refrain, “God is good; God’s graciousness for Israel lasts forever.”
Episode 520 The Parables of Jesus (Mark 4:1-34)
Episode 519 Their Faith Has Made You Well (Mark 2:1-22)
Episode 518 Following the Call (Mark 1:1-20)
Episode 517 The Christmas Story (Luke 2:1-20) SPECIAL EPISODE
Episode 516 The Birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1:5-25 & 57-80)
Episode 514 Comfort, O Comfort My People (Isaiah 40:1-11)
Episode 513 Hope Against Hope (Jeremiah 33:1-18)
Episode 512 Finding the Torah (2 Kings 22:1-20 and 23:1-3)
Episode 511 The Song of the Vineyard and the Stump of Jesse (Isaiah 5:1-7 and 11:1-9)
Episode 510 God as Parent (Hosea 11:1-9)
Episode 509 Elijah and the Prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:17-39)
Episode 508 The Division of the Kingdom (1 Kings 12:1-17, 25-29)
Episode 507 Praising the Lord (2 Samuel 5:1-5, 6:1-15, and Psalm 150)
Episode 506 Where You Go I Will Go (Ruth 1:1-17 and 4:13-16)
Episode 505 Listen, O Israel! (Deuteronomy 5:1-21& 6:4-9)
Episode 504 Responding to the Call (Exodus 1:8-2:10 and 3:1-15)
Episode 503 Jacob Wrestles with God (Genesis 32:9-13 & 22-30)
Episode 502 Laughing at the Promise (Genesis 18:1-15 and 21:1-7)
Episode 501 Created for Relationship (Genesis 2:4b-25)
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